The Open Door
by hotlittlestarlet
Summary: A story about Aria and Ezra... and everything between. This story is guaranteed to make you laugh.
1. the Open Door

Aria took a deep sigh and walked down the hallway of the second door. She reached the door, about to knock when she realized the door was cracked open. She waited to catch her breath. She _needed _to do it, so she pushed the door open further and took a step in. There were no lights on inside the apartment, which creeped her out. She stepped inside, and suddenly a hand reached out to her, grabbing her around the waist. Someone's lips met her own, and she started fighting to release the grip. She ran for the light switch.

"Ezra! What the hell are you doing?" she screamed. He gave her a grin, walked over to the sofa, and patted the familiar black leather next to him. Her forehead crinkled, as she became more and more puzzled by the second. Her eyes searched the apartment. Well, spaghetti on the kitchen counter. He must have eaten that. His bedroom door was open in the small studio, his dark blue sheets visible in the distance. She always had a nervous feeling looking at his bed. And what else, his TV on standstill, and two bottles of whiskey on the living room coffee table.

_Oh no, _she thought.


	2. Submission

Thanks for the reviews, favs, and such. It really helps me write more, and sooner too! Please keep it up. Whatever you have to say; negative or positive.

_Oh no, _she thought.

"Ezra..." she started. Aria sat on the edge of the black sofa, while Ezra was stretched out comfortably with his arm over Aria's side of the couch. She folded her hands in her lap, wondereing how exactly to scold her English teacher on drinking. This was _so _wrong.

"Aria, what's the matter? " he drawled as he gave her an adoring smile. It gave Aria the urge to just forget he was hammered and not mad at her, like he had been only a couple hours ago at the ball. She wished everything would be okay, that A hadn't screwed everything over _again. _That girl was haunting her. Aria breathed deeply, turning back to Ezra.

"Ezra, have you been drinking?" she said, wishing she didn't have to act like his mother, but there was no choice. She cared about him. He looked at her like he was a puppy that had just wet the carpet. It was ridiculous. "Answer me right now, or I'm leaving," she stated, about to get off the couch and leave him.

"Nono Aria, don't leave. I..I... I'm sorry," he declared, and slowly put his head in Aria's lap, trapping her from getting off the couch. She watched as he closed his eyes. She didn't know what to do with her hands, so eventually she just relaxed them on his shoulder. He let out a snore into her dress five minutes later, and she intertwined her fingers in his hair, like she would with a child, and closed her eyes with him.


	3. Close Call

A heavy banging sound echoed through the apartment. Ezra woke up with a start, awakening Aria as well.

"Who is it?" he called. Aria and Ezra looked at each other, eyes widening. She could already picture herself yelling out, 'It's not what you think! We weren't here together because of... you know. It was an accident, a mistake!'

"Hardy! I called before saying I had tickets to go to the Rangers game!"

"Shit." Aria's face fell.

"The one from the bar?" she whispered. Ezra nodded, his expression solemn. "What do we do?" She got up, quickly scanning the apartment. She knew she would have to hide

"Hide in the closet in my bedroom? That's safest to not get caught. As she leaned to start off, he stepped in front of her and kissed the top of her head. He felt alive right then, and wanted to do more with her, but he knew he had to answer that damn door. Hardy'd knocks were like thunder, and he was afraid the stupid guy would tear his door down. If Hardy caught Aria in the apartment, he would suspect the worst... and really get creeped out.

In the closet, Aria had never felt more alone. She hated that she had to hide her feelings about Ezra, and how wrong it looked from the outside. She would be in so much trouble. But as she heard him answer the door, and give Hardy a loud hug, she wished she could be out there, in his world. She didn't want to be someone who had to lie to feel right, to feel wholesome. She wanted to just be.

"I swear I left my old hat here last time I came over!" she heard Hardy yell. He was so loud. But as he kept talking, she heard his voice come closer. And all of a sudden, he was in front of the closet door.

As he came closer, Ezra tried to deter him, but Hardy was persistent. He opened the closet door, and to Ezra's relief, she had vanished.

As she heard the door shut, Aria sighed a breath of relief. She slipped out of Ezra's old rainboots and out of his jacked and came out of the closet. She walked out of his bathroom, took her jacket and left 3B.


	4. Exhausted

Spencer called Aria's number for the fifth time. Exhausted and confused, she realized she wouldn't have any luck reaching her this way. Swinging her feet off the bed and inop her sandals, she left her bedroom and headed for her car. With the ignition turned on, Spencer grabbed her Blackberry and texted Aria, 'COMING OVER SOON, DON'T YOU DARE LEAVE.' With that she looked over her surrounings and pulled out of the driveway.

Aria received Spencer's message and sighed. There was no way she could avoid her friends. She was diong her English assignment and was writing Ezra under the teacher column when she realized her mistake and backspaced. She closed her laptop and sulked out of bed.

"Hey," Spencer said as she knocked on the door of Aria's bedroom.

"Come on in." Aria brushed her hair and turned to face Spencer. She could see her friend's eyes widen a little at the sight of her.

"What's wrong, Aria?" Spencer said as she sat on her bed. She noticed the makeup smeared under her eyes, which was unusual. Aria usually kept herself nice and tidy.

"I'm just -tired-," Aria yawned, but she knew Spencer wouldn't fall for it. It was worth the attempt. "Well, I guess I had a rough night."

"I bet, what happened?" Spencer asked.

"I can't say." She watched Spencer's look of annoyance, "For real. I guess I gotta go. I was supposed to -um- go out with my mom tonight."

"You know I don't buy it, but whatever. I'm always here if you need me, which you should," Spencer smiled, but secretly was worried about her friend. Aria mumbled a thank you, and ushered Spencer to the door, getting her jacket on the way. She sighed in relief as she watched her car drive out, then picked up her phone and dialed a number. It rung for a minute, then went straight to voicemail.

"Ezra here, leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks." Aria closed the phone in frustration and rubbed her eyes, black mascara smudging into her fingers.

* * *

Author's Note: Sorry about the delay, sorry it was a crappy one. I'm not used to displaying this kind of emotion. Next will be better, promise.


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